A question about a recipe: Jim Lahey's No-Knead Pizza Dough
I have a question about step 5 on the recipe "Jim Lahey's No-Knead Pizza Dough" from Genius Recipes. It says:
"Switch the oven to broil for 10 minutes. With the dough on the peel, spoon the tomato sauce over the surface and spread it evenly, leaving about an inch of the rim untouched. Distribute 10 to 12 hunks of mozzarella (about 7 ounces) on top."
Our oven has the broiler at the bottom. What's the best workaround, aside from replacing the stove?
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20 Comments
On ovens that have a lower broiler drawer, can you cook stuff with the door open?
http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/02/which-oven-rack-should-i-put-my-pizza-stone-on.html
Mike, if you do try the two stones, keep us posted.
What I want to ask is this: what does the broiler-above method provide to a pizza that I can't get if I place the pizza stone at the bottom? Does the cheese brown more evenly or more crisply? Does the top-down method better cook or crisp up the other toppings? What's the advantage?
And, if I may vent for a bit, Lahey's is not the first pizza recipe I've seen that assumes a top-of-the-oven broiler. We rent; we can't replace our oven. Any recipe that doesn't provide for alternatives is less than helpful.
I will try Mrs. Larkin's suggestion, of a another pizza stone atop. That's a great idea, thanks!
You preheat the oven to 500 for about 45mins..THEN turning on the (in the oven) broiler element for about 10-15 mins, it Superheats the surface of the stone---above 500 with it's radiant heat.
This would be very difficult to replicate if your oven has a bottom drawer type broiler. As you'd have to remove the stone and transfer to the broiler.
If your oven works well with successful pizza and stone...you should be fine and won't too much about that step. Unless you want to do a final broil on another stone, just to super heat the top; not really needed IMHO.
I think as long as you can preheat the oven to as high as you can get it (mine goes to 550) you can get good results in a regular oven. Also, a baker friend of mine once told me this: to imitate the top broiler heat, get a second pizza stone and put it on the top shelf, that way the heat from the top stone will shoot down onto whatever you're baking.
I use parchment paper for my pizzas. Turns black but doesn't catch fire, and slides right in and out of oven with peel and nimble asbestos fingers and/or tongs.
Good luck!
I don't have one...but others seem to love it. It's a traditional pizza peel with a slot and canvas that you pull back to deposit the goods with minimal shaking.
Video link.
http://www.superpeel.com/videos.html